The Places You Never Knew Existed
by Miss Yvonne Hartman
Summary: What if she'd accepted his offer? What new worlds would they discover, and what dark pasts would they have to confront? Tollie
1. Chapter 1

The Places You Never Knew Existed

What if she'd accepted his offer? What new worlds would they discover, and what dark pasts would they have to confront? Tollie

Post Injustice, but I have used the final scene of Committed as well. I don't own Smallville.

Rated M

_AN, Dec 2012: I'm reposting a lot of my old work that has been re-edited, yay!_

* * *

Chapter 1

_Come close and then even closer  
We bring it in but we go no further  
We're separate  
two ghosts in one mirror, no nearer  
_

_Later on if it turns to chaos, hurricane comin all around us  
See the crack, pull it back from the window,  
you stay low, say when_

_And my own two hands_  
_will comfort you tonight, tonight_  
_Say when_  
_And my own two arms_  
_will carry you tonight, tonight_

_ - "Say When", The Fray_

"So what do you say? Dinner in Malibu, in time to see the sun set?"

She smirks, his hopeful eyes watching her in the mirror, "Is that a hint of romance, I detect?"

"I can't help myself."

Tess bit her lip, hating him for making her feel out of control. She dropped her gaze to the glittering diamond chain in the powder blue Tiffany & Co. box. She felt her breath catch. Could she ever resist the lure of that specific shade of blue, of that smile he was wearing and those big, honest brown eyes?

"Mercy?" he said, quietly, his grin fading a little. She looked back up at him. Oh Oliver. She put her hand on his face, feeling the warmth of his skin on her palm.

She's lost her script. Her mind draws blank, what should she do? Say? Should she kiss him, her lips already aching for his mouth, or would that confuse everything again? Hadn't she made up her mind minutes ago, as she jabbed her earrings in with a bit more spite than usual, that she would walk away from him?

Her heart crashes about like an idiot for a minute, scalding her with the ghost of all the pain he'd caused her and she snaps back into her role. She's stone. Lex taught her to be stone.

She snaps the box closed and pushes it back into his hands, regretting it, but it has to be done. He can't rule her.

"Save it." She says, "In case you want to tip another waitress. There was nothing romantic about last night, Oliver, I had an itch. You scratched it." She's killing him with her words, killing herself. It had seemed so simple, one last tumble to get him out of her system. Bad move. She could feel their particular toxin coursing through her veins again, making her second guess everything she felt and thought.

They stand and she can't look into his eyes, because if she does she knows she'll be lost.

"Tess what happened to you?" he asks, she can feel his gaze burning on her skin, making her want to hide from him. What has happened to her? She can't quite figure it out yet.

Her voice is gravelly, "I grew up. And you left. Right when things started to get interesting." All that pain, like a knife, a hundred knives, piercing her skin, making it hard to breathe. She forces herself to walk away and like just Lex had said to never do, she didn't look back.

_**-Six months later-**_

Tess was exhausted. This life was draining her of everything she had. She'd be well on her way to joining the famous people who had died at the age of twenty-seven if she wasn't careful. She's tempted once again by the idea of taking up that suggestion of amphetamines. If she didn't get completely addicted, she'd be fine. She could go for longer, get through more work, and do more research. She's thinking about the prick of a cold hypodermic and the bottles of sleeping pills she was chawing through just to get a snatch of unconsciousness at night, and wondering if this was all her life was going to be, when she looks up to see Oliver Queen grinning at her from her bed.

Fuck I'm going to have to wash those sheets, She thinks, dropping her shirt buttons quickly.

"No, please, don't stop getting undressed on my account." He says. Oh Christ.

"You really have no idea about boundaries, do you?" she asks. Why can't you take a hint, Oliver? Can't you let me go?

"I know you shot me down earlier but I'm always up for another fly by." And he was going to use pathetic puns as well. She really didn't have the energy for this.

"Oliver I think you should leave." Good girl, you're in control. Was that Lex's voice in her head, or was it her own? You tell him… oh. _Hello_. "Oliver." She turns her back quickly, unable to rid her brain of the good eyeful she just got. "Where the Hell are your pants?"

He's smiling, she can tell. "Yeah. I hid my pants. Like that time I hid your clothes in Fiji, in the cabana, that was fun." Oh how very clever of you, Oliver. "I remember we spent the rest of that vacation au natural!"

They had, she remembers, the two of them chasing each other around in the steamy Suva air, The Beatles' _All You Need Is Love_ blasting from the stereo.

"You can streak down memory lane all by yourself, Oliver." She says, turning back to face him and finding herself unable to resist getting another look, just to feel her face flare up again like a teenager and her muscles flutter. "Those days are over for me." Throw him out. Throw him out. Don't cave girl. Just look at those abs.

"Really? Because I think I felt some of the old chemistry earlier." Her stomach pangs with the way he can remind her of that and she clamps down on the memory of him gripping her hair as his hips bucked into hers… No! Don't lose focus.

"Oh there was tension, but it wasn't sexual." She quips. It was me trying to restrain myself from strangling you. Much like I am trying now.

He steps closer, she can smell his cologne, all spice and musk, it makes her heart trill. "I beg to differ, Tess. Because I've seen that look in your eyes before. What do you say; I'll fly you to places you never knew existed."

There's hope in his eyes. She suddenly realises how much she aches for him. How can you ask me these things, when you know I am powerless to resist you?

"You might want to cool your jets there, ace." She says, hating herself. But hating him more, for making her want him, despite all the pain.

"Maybe we should start over."

She's surprised, he wants her this much? To keep going, breaking through wall after wall, deflecting all of her attempts like this. Inside she's impressed. And she's scared.

"It's too late for that." Traitor mouth or traitor mind? Why do you keep firing at the man offering a white flag and a life to you? Stupid girl.

Then the room blew up and she didn't have much time to think about anything else.

Tess woke slowly, groggy and her hands felt heavy and useless. She was in pain, her bones aching. She groaned, and felt a weight beside her shift and cool hands touch her face.

"Hey. Mercy. You awake?"

She flutters her eyes open, the room coming in to focus. It was dark outside and long shadows were drawing over the room. Oliver Queen, wearing clothes for a change, was sitting beside her. He held out a glass of water, which she drank dry and was grateful for the relief of her itching throat.

"Thanks." She rasped, running a hand through her hair. "What happened?"

"Your meteor freaks chucked a tantrum." He said, helping her sit up properly. She leant back against the headboard and groaned. "Yeah. But it's ok now."

She closed her eyes against the headache stabbing her behind the ear and when she re-joined the real world, Oliver was tracing circles on the inside of her elbow. She smiled. "That tickles." She whispered, pulling her elbow away.

"I know." He smirked, chasing after the limb and rolling half on top of her. They both gasped in slight surprise, their eyes locking. Something stirs in her navel and she hastily looks away, still terrified of the power she might lose if she looks too deeply.

Something on her dressing table catches her eyes, and she looks back at Oliver, before crawling off the bed and padding over to investigate.

It was a powder blue Tiffany and Co., box, the same one he had presented to her months ago.

"Oliver." She says, feeling him come to stand behind her.

"I told you." He said. Taking the box out of her hands he opened it, showing her the diamond bracelet, like a string of stars in the dim light, they dazzled her. "We should start again, Tess. It's never too late. I want to try again."

She meets his eyes, seeing for once that there is no arrogance, no power. Just him, honest and beautiful. She takes a breath. Takes a chance.

She slowly stretches her arm out, presenting the tiny, white under-side of her wrist to him. Their eyes lock and he smiles. "Well… It's hard to resist Tiffany." She says, trying to deny the power he holds over her. It's hard to resist Oliver Queen. She berates herself internally, but smiles as the weight of the diamonds link around her wrist, glinting in the light.

"I always wanted to…" she trails off and looks away, unable to stand the expression in his eyes. She's been caught. Here the chain of starlight that signifies once more, she is tied to Oliver Queen and can't escape.

He waits for her to continue, and when she doesn't, he prompts gently, "No go on, you always wanted to what?"

She rolls her eyes. "I once wanted us to meet again and we'd be like two strangers once more… That we could just start over." She says. It had sounded better in her head, sweeter; trying to match the romance he was trying to create, to show that they were not strangers in their desires. But her voice was gravelly and the words came out frank and cold, like she didn't mean it sincerely. But she did. She tried not to wince, tried not to show how much power he could have over her, desperate to not be crumbled.

For once he doesn't pull her up on it. He grins with boyish cockiness and sticks his hand out between them, grabbing her hand, the one with the bracelet, and shaking it firmly. "Oliver. Oliver Queen. And who are you?"

He makes her laugh, her body joining the mirth as she tilts forward. Their foreheads bump together, not at all gently and she smiles, her eyes blurred, feeling his cool breath wash over her lips.

"Hi." She whispers and lets her mouth lower to his, tentatively, almost shyly. Heat spirals through her. The kiss was gentle, too gentle for them and it doesn't feel right. So the shadows of their former selves rose up like angels from tombs and duelled, fuelling the kiss with fire and petrol, like they had done to everything they touched. He gripped her hair at the back of her head, slamming their lips together.

Her uncoordinated hand slashed across the surface of the dressing table, knocking over several perfume bottles in her desperate attempt to hold herself up and plunder his mouth in return. She's glittering ash, full of an emotion so raw and overwhelming she feels pain where her heart should be, twinging down her body and making her spine jar with shivers. The kiss peaked in intensity, her mind reeled in empty spaces, like she was overdosing, tripping out on a double shot of him.

Tess pulled away audibly, the room spinning as if she'd been into the Vodka. She looks at him. "What was that?" she can barely form the words, breathless. He's looking equally surprised, his lips swollen.

"Mercy." He calls her and kisses her again.

It's too much, the roaring sound in her ears too loud. How can he do this to her? She pulls away again but he doesn't let her get far, smashing his mouth to hers, pushing the silky material of her red shirt off her shoulders and letting it pool around her waist, his chest against her breasts. She gasps, putting her palm on his chest, flexing her fingers as he pulls one of her long legs over his hips, reaching a hand between them. She tries not to cry out, digging her fingernails in and leaving crescent moons behind when she slides the hand up to his neck to pull his mouth deeper to hers. She feels hot, sparkles running up and down her thighs as his cool fingers do things to her that make her see odd, half formed images on the inside of her eyelids.

She twists, trying to get away. "No… I can't…"

"Let me love you." He rasped, still circling her flaming, wet skin, making her shiver and clench her hand into a fist. "Stop fighting it, Mercy. Just this once."

He kisses her, lays all of his emotion and lust and the splintered pieces of themselves on the altar of her mouth. It's blinding, the electric crackle of static in her head. It's almost too much too bear. Yet despite her attempt to keep her control, she finds herself kissing him back. After everything she's done over the months, everything he's done, it was good to feel something other than guilt and emptiness. She lets herself crumble, arching her hips against his hand, consuming all of him and giving herself over to the feel of his skin and his fingers and … oh…

"Ol… iverr…" she purrs, tipping her head back so far that her hair spills over the dressing table. She's losing composure. Nothing is tangible, her hands shake, her breath rasps. Were his lips on her throat? She can't tell, she is nothing but a tiny ball of electricity. The bracelet makes an odd scratching sound against the dresser as she reaches blindly for something to hold onto, needing to tie herself back to Earth or else she may never come back. His huge paw covers hers on the cool surface, lacing their sweaty fingers. When had her pants come off? She can't reason or care, all she's aware of is the pressure of him hard and deep inside her, his lips dragging over her shoulder. Her head was full of light and he slammed his mouth to hers, cutting off her scream and swallowing all of that starlight as she burnt in his arms, like a supernova.

Her lips were still resting against his when she feels a thought cross her mind, spinning in a very empty space. She swallows, draws away and tries to open her eyes, everything unfocused until she can blink a few times, starting to see in colour again. She meets Oliver's gaze, apprehensive of what he might say. There was no way she could find a good retort or insult when her mind was this bare. But he smiles, licking her kiss off his lips, glowing a bit.

"Are you ok?" he asks, taking her by surprise. They are still linked, and she can't find the strength to pull away. She nods slightly, flexing her shoulders to sit up properly and feeling all of her muscles glitter. "Feel free to tell me how amazing I am." He says after she's quiet for a few long moments.

For a surprising change she thinks that's funny and is laughing when she finds the strength and rolls her eyes, pushing him away and trying to grab for the robe on the end of her bed, her legs shaking. "Oh yes, because you're God's gift to anything with a postcode, Oliver." She sassed.

He smirked, "I know your body." He said watching her attempt. "Don't." he stalled her fumbling hands. "You're beautiful; don't hide from me, Mercy."

It's been a long time since someone has called her beautiful, and said it with so much raw honesty and passion that she can't even conceive to disagree. She looked at the ball of their hands, shaking her head a little, her gaze flicking back to the bracelet. God what have you gotten into Tess? She asks herself mentally.

"I'm not being arrogant, I'm just… I'm _trying_ to say that I know you so well." He said, his expressive eyes searching hers, "I never forgot you. Never could."

"Some comfort." She said dryly, tucking the sentiment away in her heart, stepping back. "I need a shower."

He nods, not releasing her hands, "Ok. And then… where do you want to go? The whole world, Mercy, I'll take you anywhere."

Can she go away? Can she really just up and leave. "I have a lot of work." She says.

"I remember the days when you would drop everything and come on holiday with me."

She pulls away from him. "I'm not seventeen, hell I'm not twenty two, Oliver. I'm not that girl. That stupid girl who followed you to the ends of the Earth is _gone_. If you think I will just 'drop everything' for you, then you don't know me at all."

He stares into her defiant eyes, "Then let me get to know you again." He says, "You said it yourself, starting out again, and I've got a mystery destination, so pack a bag." He kissed her swiftly, forcefully, "Point me in the direction of the kitchen, Mercy? I could do with a sandwich or two."

She slapped his toned but as he swaggered past her.

"You don't care to share the weather of this destination? How am I meant to put a wardrobe together on nothing, Oliver?" she yelled after him, smiling in spite of herself.

_To be continued… _


	2. Chapter 2

The Places You Never Knew Existed

What if she'd accepted his offer? What new worlds would they discover, and what dark pasts would they have to confront? Tollie

Post Injustice. I don't own Smallville.

Rated M

Chapter 2

The bracelet was heavy around her wrist. It felt too impractical to wear constantly but Tess didn't want to slap a misinterpretation at Oliver and have them fight so soon after giving whatever it was between them another shot. She bit her lip and fiddled with the clasp as she leant back on her seat. Oliver's jet was flying them to wherever he had chosen. She looked out the window for a bit, but they were above the blanket of clouds and the nondescript ocean from before hadn't given her many clues to where they were going. She looked back to see him staring at her, almost hungrily. She shifted her body a little sideways and tried to smile.

"It's ok." He said, looking to the bracelet, "I know it's not something you can wear all the time."

Inside she gives a sigh of relief. "Oh. It's beautiful." She said, nodding. "So, where are we going?"

"Surprise." Oliver said. Tess shrugged, it had been worth a shot and she grabbed her Blackberry, opening her mail. "Tess put the phone down, the emails can wait." Oliver commanded, "It'd be a real blow if you sent us plummeting into the Pacific because you didn't listen to the no phones in flight rule."

Tess flicked her gaze up to him and tersely turned her phone off and picked up her novel again, flipping through to her page and scanning the text for where she'd gotten up to.

"You're still staring at me, Oliver." She said, feeling his gaze and a quick glance up confirmed it, he grinned.

"I can't look away."

"Oh shut up!"

XxX

"Martha's Vineyard?" Tess looked at Oliver as they grabbed their bags off the carousel. "Why here?"

"Is it a bad choice?" he asked, leading her towards the exit.

"No." she shook her head, "It's beautiful but I was just wondering, of all the world, why here?"

Oliver paused, "My parents had a holiday house here. It's mine now, but I used to come here with them for holidays and Christmas. It's special because it holds all of those good memories for me. Riding the carousel with my mother. She was really good at getting the ring each time, and she'd always give it to me so I could ride for free."

Tess smiled and reached out to touch the back of his hand. "It sounds beautiful."

"We can go there later." He said, nudging her towards their rented car, a red Ferrari. She smirked, he had no subtly. "I wanted to share this with you, Tess."

Her heart swelled in her chest and she smiled. "Thank you." She said, sounding genuine, and folded herself into the passenger seat.

The summer house was beautiful. It was a simple, single floored house with blue weatherboard and white windowsills and a wide veranda. Tess smiled. "It's beautiful."

"It was the wedding present my father gave my mum." He explained, leading her to the door and getting the key out of his pocket. They had already been to the general store and bought food, and Tess carried the heavy paper bag in one arm while lugging her heavy suitcase with the other. Oliver opened the front door and sweetly took her suitcase for her, dragging it over the threshold and dropped it in the foyer. "What did you put in this?" he kicked the Vuitton case, "Bricks?"

"Yes, Oliver, bricks." She rolled her eyes, as she stepped past him into the interior of the house. She kicked herself mentally for being so bold as to walk straight into his home but pushed the feeling aside and turned back to smile at him. "It's lovely." She said.

The walls were white and pale blues to match the outside of the house. The furniture French and painted. It was bright and airy and summery. She loved it instantly.

She put the groceries down in the kitchen, which was lemon yellow but very modern with stainless steel appliances, and went straight to the kettle, filling it with water and turning it on so she could make coffee.

"The bed room is down the hall." Oliver said, opening the back door to stand out on the patio.

Tess nodded, more to herself, and went to find a room. There was what she assumed was the guest room, blue décor again with a dried starfish on the window sill. She idly picked it up, looking out towards the sparkling ocean. In her hand bag, her phone chimed and she went to answer it. _Kat – Where are you?_

She sat on the edge of the white bed and tacked off a few emails before directing her attention to unpacking her suitcase and putting her clothes away in the standing wardrobe and dresser drawers. Usually she lived out of her suitcase whenever she travelled, it felt almost comforting, but completely alien, to be hanging up her summer dresses. She smiled.

"Mercy?" She heard Oliver call, sounding like he was on the other side of the house. She waited a second or two before emerging from her room.

"Oliver?" she tried to gauge where he was, when a closed door caught her eye with OLIVER spelt on the wood in a cute green letters. She stopped, turning the handle and opening it. The room was dusty, unlike the rest of the house which had been cleaned. It was the sort of room for a young child, Tess realised, as she advanced further, trying hard not to sneeze. The walls were green, there was a world map and as she stood before it she realised that all the thumbtacks marked places desired or visited. The bookshelf was full of children's stories. Bright paper backed books, _The Famous Five_, _Where the Wild Things Are_. She picked up a large, thin book, _Peter's Place_, her heart twinging at the memory of how much she loved the ocean and how she had vowed to save the marine. But that was a long time ago for her, when she was someone else.

She put the book back on the shelf and did sneeze in the sudden cloud of dust, jumping back and hearing the horrible crunch of Lego beneath her Manolo.

"Tess?" her hands still covering her face, she looked up to see Oliver standing in the doorway.

"Sorry," she said once she'd recovered, "I couldn't help myself. Was this your room?" she waved her hand around the room.

Oliver nodded.

"I see the green theme started young with you." She smiled as she walked to his side. "It's nice. Much nicer than my childhood bedroom was." She suppressed the shudder. "And like, three times the size." She smiled, to show that it didn't hurt her anymore. But it did.

He nodded, his eyes glassy with memories. He looked at Tess. For a moment, in the light, she looked twenty one again, standing in the hall of their Star City penthouse. He'd wanted everything with her. The Queen Heir, she'd joked, smiling, her hand on her stomach, as if to imagine the joyful kicks of their precious creation. They'd been together three years by then, and he'd wanted the rest of his life with her as well. But then…

"Oliver?" Tess, this Tess, older wiser harder Tess, gives him a concerned look before rolling her eyes. "Never mind, I'll just go for a walk by myself." She turned away from him and he followed her to the guest room. He watched her from the doorway as she put her sunglasses on her head and took off the Tiffany bracelet, letting it curl on the dresser surface.

"What are you doing in here?" He asked, "The master bedroom is down the hall."

She nodded, "Excellent, enjoy your sleep, Oliver, I've already claimed this room." She met his crestfallen gaze. "I like the view."

"I thought… I thought we would sleep together." He said slowly, waiting for her to catch his drift and obligingly move her stuff into the other room.

Tess looked down and then back up at him, "Listen. I can't jump straight back into this." She said, trying to keep her voice gentle. "I just need some time, ok. Please respect that."

He nodded, "Ok, Mercy."

"Stop calling me that!" she flared, balling her long fingers into fists. "I'm not Mercy! Not anymore!"

He tried not to step back, staring back into her flaming eyes. "You are to me, Tess. I call you that because it's special. Because you're special." She crossed her arms. "I didn't come here to fight with you!" he snapped.

"Me either." She snarled back. He grabbed her by the elbows, spinning her in a fluid motion and slamming her into the wall. They glared at each other, breathless, chests heaving.

"Stop fighting this, Tess." He said. "You always fight me when things get too real."

She closes her eyes, she's losing herself. "It's because I'll lose control." She whispers. His mouth so close, her lips twitch slightly in anticipation, feeling his warm breath on her face.

"Good." He whispered, "You should lose it."

He kissed her, pressing her bodily into the wall. She felt her mouth open and his tongue brushed her lower lip, touched her tongue and sent a jolt through her. It was too much, but when she pulled herself away, she realised how much she needed him again. You're a drug addict, Tess. She scolded herself in her mind, pressing her mouth to his again. She pulled away as his hands slid over her thighs.

"Oliver." She rasped, shaking her head. "I said, I needed time."

He kissed her again, forcing her to catch his tongue not at all gently between her teeth.

"I mean it," she said, pushing him back and stepping away. "We've done some crazy shit these past months, Oliver. I think we need time to start… trusting each other again." She looked at him through her eyelashes, hoping he'd realise just how hard she was trying. Guilt slashed her at insides from throat to navel. "Time. That's all I ask."

His lust soaked eyes met her own, and he nodded, taking a breath. "Ok, Mercy, Ok."

XxX

Tess changed her clothes from the gear she had flown in to a yellow sundress and white strappy sandals, and met Oliver on the veranda.

"What do you think?" she asked, looking at him from under the brim of her red straw hat. He smiled his approval and grabbed her hand.

"I love it." He said, as they walked to the main road and towards the town. Tess looked back over her shoulder as they passed another couple.

"Was that that actress?" she asked Oliver.

He shrugged, "I don't know. Want me to get her autograph for you, Mercy?"

"I can survive without it." She said flatly, trying not to visibly bristle at the nickname. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see." He said. They walked further and eventually stopped outside an old, red building. Flying Horses.

"The Carousel." Tess stated, following him inside. Oliver paid for their tickets and they stepped on the moving carousel. Tess smiled at the painted horses and carriages revolving to the giddy, big band music. Oliver swung onto a white horse, while Tess took the black thoroughbred beside it, twirling her hands in the real horse hair mane. Oliver laughed at her. Tess tried to shake off the self-conscious feeling and get into the spirit of the thing, pretending to race Oliver.

"The ring!" he shouted and Tess swiped her hand through the air on instinct and felt that brass ring catch in her palm. She stared at it in slight surprise. "Good job, Mercy." Oliver said. She searched his eyes, feeling that they were the only stationary thing in the world at that moment, and dismounted her horse, holding the ring out to him.

"You take it." She said, wrapping his fingers around the metal. "Please. Like when you were a kid, Oliver. It's yours."

He stared into her face, seeing for a moment a completely different Tess to half an hour before. It was his old Tess, thoughtful and sweet and beautiful. He jumped from the white horse and swept her into a dazzling kiss.

"You're incredible, you know that?" he said over her lips. She nodded, liking that the force behind his kiss was not to inflict power or pain on her for a change. She nodded.

"It does happen." She winked and walked off the carousel, preferring the solid, unmovable ground beneath her feet, watching him ride again, the lights and music a golden blur across her vision, bright against the blue evening that swept over the canvas of the sky.

To be Continued…

AN: The books mentioned in young Oliver's room are The Famous Five series by Enid Blyton, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak and Peter's Place by Sally Grindley, Illustrated by Michael Foreman.


	3. Chapter 3

The Places You Never Knew Existed

What if she'd accepted his offer? What new worlds would they discover, and what dark pasts would they have to confront? Tollie

Post Injustice. I don't own Smallville.

Rated M

Chapter 3

They lay on their backs in the grass, staring up into the blue morning sky, streaked with clouds, until they were dizzy and Tess had to close her eyes.

"I like it here." She said, feeling like she could fall asleep in the sun. "It's peaceful."

Oliver nodded, concerned that Mercy wasn't paying him that much attention, but rather drifting to sleep. He pouted and searched around for a topic to reclaim her waning interest.

"Did you know, there's a restaurant that sells an ice cream sundae for twenty five thousand dollars? Comes with a diamond encrusted spoon and all."

Tess sat up, and pinned him with a look of disgust. Oliver started thinking that it probably wasn't the wisest point for conversation.

"Well there goes hope for society." She scowled. "That amount of money is almost half the tuition fee to put the next John F Kennedy or Bill Gates through Harvard, but _no_. It's spent on ice cream!" she shook her head, whipping her red curls up in frenzy. "And ok, I'm a girl who likes to shop, but I think that in the face of the extreme poverty in the world, with the billions of people who have no food or clean water, twenty five K for an ice cream just makes me angry. You billionaires, constantly needing to inflate your egos more than the interest rates!"

Oliver tried not to laugh too much. She was brilliant, and he could see, glowing in the depth of her green eyes, the girl she used to be. The one who would change the world.

"You should be in politics, Mercy." He told her.

"You think I'm the stereotype of a politician? Dishonest and corrupt?" she paused, and added with bitter sarcasm, "more so than I already am?"

"I think you care about the world a lot more that you let on. That you still have those big dreams to save the world." He met her eyes and she gave him a tiny, sad and distant smile. "How did I lose you, Tess?"

"I'm right here." She deflected, not wanting to trudge through all the memories.

"No, I mean, the real you. The old you. You're different."

"But am I less real because of it?" she questioned, then gave a short sigh. "I grew up, Oliver. I grew up and I'm not apologising for who I've become."

"That's not it." He watched her, unable to pin point where she had changed, sometimes she was like smoke, he couldn't catch her long enough to gain an understanding. She was ephemeral, incredible, and yet there she sat before him. Her eyes open, her skin warm and he wonders if that complete miscalculation of her, the giddy chemical rush that blinded him to who she was as a person, as someone real, was a part of his downfall. "You're colder, Mercy."

"It was…" she plucked at the clovers in the grass, "One day when I was working for Lex, he made me yell at someone down the phone for… I can't remember, something incompetent and trivial. Anyway, I was halfway through this fantastic tirade of how this guy was never going to go anywhere in life, I mean really brutal things to say to a person, and I suddenly realised. That scared, safe, weak little Tessie was gone. I wasn't sure what was left in her place. But I knew in that moment, slamming the phone down, that I could never again be that girl. Tess was dead. And whatever I had become…" her eyes were harsh and hard, but blazing, "she was like diamond. She was strong."

For a split second he didn't want to touch her, there was something terrifying about her in this moment. He could see it, that diamond girl had always been inside her, it had scared him in their youth but he sought to conquer it now. Not to conquer _her_, but to remind her.

"But where you happy about that? Really?"

She met his eyes, darkly, and whispered, "Yes."

He shook his head. "I don't believe you." He said, sitting up and gently putting his four fingertips along her cheekbone and cupping the side of her face in his palm. "You were never weak, Tess."

"I was stupid. Look at what I let Lex do to me, Oliver." She said, slapping his hand away only to have him replace it. "Camera in head. The merit badge for blind, deaf and dumb. Horribly stupid."

"He lied to you, Tess. He lied to all of us." Oliver countered. Her eyes for a split second were grateful, before she looked tense again. "How did you meet him?" he asked, the question had been burning away at him for years. "Was it at that party?"

"No. Not the party." Tess shook her head. "I met Lex in New York."

"What! When I took you to New York?" Oliver exclaimed?

"No. I went to New York for the first time with Megan when I was sixteen. That was when I first met Lex. It's a long story."

"Tell me it? You used to tell me stories about you and Megan, but never one about Lex." Oliver said, turning over and resting his head on her thighs.

_It was nineteen ninety seven and I was in the common room, reading Pride and Prejudice for the millionth time when Megan came sauntering into the room and draped herself over my legs. I kicked her for interrupting me and tried to dislodge her slight weight from my shins. _

"_I'm bored!" she huffs. "Baby T, let's do something!"_

_I dog-eared my page and gave her my attention. "What do you have in mind?" Megan always had ideas for cool and glamorous adventures. And crazy ones too. We gate crashed a wedding once ,and we would climb onto the dormitory roof and count stars and dreams. We made plans for this amazing life we were going to have together. Living together, she wanted to marry Brad Pitt and we would smoke cigarettes and live in a mansion and be fabulous always. _

"_I don't know but I'm bored and you know bad things happen when I'm bored." I shuffled to sit closer to her, and she would start braiding my hair and I'd... I love Megan. She was cool and clever. There's about four years between us, she's like the big sister I had always wanted. "You know where we should go?"_

"_Where?" I closed my eyes at the sensation of her combing my hair. _

"_New York!" She declared. I open my eyes in a snap. _

"_What?" _

"_Yeah, tonight! We can get the train, in at Penn Station, go to some clubs, watch the sun rise from the top of the Empire State Building, Central Park - Strawberry Fields, sweetheart – Some shopping, some lunching, Martini's at the Oyster Bar and then home in time for our tutes." She rattles off her, eyes already set with determination, "It'll be amazing! Come on, pack your bag!" _

_I coughed. "Meg, the train alone is four hours." I didn't want to raise the issue of money. I mean, I had my savings, I could dip in… but no. Megan was made of money, with her lovely family and her lavish Ivy League boyfriend. I was the underage scholarship kid, waitressing at a diner and scraping by. _

"_Tess, it's New York. It's you and me in _New York_." She puts her face close to mine, her delicious perfume. "The trip of a lifetime. The people. You could meet someone who'll change your life." I hate the way she manipulates me._

"_Ok I'm sold! What's the weather in New York?" _

"_It's always sunny with me!" she smiled, dragging me off the couch and we raced hand in hand back to our dorm, laughing our heads off. She makes me delirious, happy. _

_We shoved our clothes and makeup and high heels into a small bag between us. Closed the door on our room, on university life and we ran across and out of campus. _

_I should say now that it wasn't a flawlessly executed plan. We hitchhiked to the station, we missed trains had to wait for an hour before we finally got the one to New York… but God I was in love. I was so excited, my whole life, all those miserable days in Louisiana, I would dream about New York City. I wanted to be on Broadway, the lights and the smell and the people. To me it was a mythical place where dreams came true. _

_It could be that my dream and my nightmare found me in that city. I'll never know if Lex saw me across a crowded room and came to speak to me because he thought I was beautiful. I used to dream about being glamorous and beautiful but in reality I was freckly, fifteen and my breasts were growing much too quickly for my confidence to quite carry them off. I was definitely not going to be Edie Sedgwick to his Andy Warhol … or maybe Lex had been looking for me, he always had calculating eyes and the way he looked at me… either way, whatever he or I became, it doesn't stop me from loving that city. It was where I began and I will love it till the day I die. I went back last year and stood on the same street corner where I had with Megan that very first time. I could still hear her laughing. _

_But back to the story… Megan and I finally got in to the city as the sun was rising, I stepped off the train and… my heart just felt like it was home. I had finally, after all those years, found my home. I stood in Times Square with my arms stretched out, smiling at the brilliant, rising sun and thinking 'yes. This is the start of something big. Something amazing. I start living today.'_

_Megan and I walked around, we saw the billboards of Broadway Shows, we danced in the middle of the pavement to the music of the buskers and the subway… we drooled over fur coats and incredible jewels that swept past us in the streets, those glamorous women we were desperate to be. It was Megan's greatest idea, I couldn't contain all the happiness in my chest - to be almost sixteen, with my best friend, my heart full of the city of New York, the greatest place on Earth…_

_And then I first saw Lex. Megan was talking about lunch, saying she was hungry and I… I would never have to eat again, I had New York to sustain me, I'd live off the atmosphere of the city. But Megan said that was stupid and we decided that with our limited cash the best we could do was pretzels in Central Park, but we'd sit by Jackie Kennedy's reservoir and put our sunglasses on and pretend to be her. We were mildly obsessed with Jackie. And we were walking past Tiffany's and… Have you ever been in love with two places at once? That sudden tear where you're scared you're abandoning the old love, although you never will, but here is this great, shining romance blossoming in front of you… It was like that for me and Tiffany's. That blue. I will paint my next house that colour. _

_It was exactly like it was in the movie, so beautiful, the jewels dazzling. My eyes, I think the door man must have laughed because I couldn't even blink, I was scared to miss a moment. We walked around and tried to choose our engagement rings and the pieces we would buy when we had the money and then we just died over the Tiffany Diamond. And when we turned around, because I'd start crying if I looked any longer, there he was. Lex Luthor, but I didn't know that then, watching us from across the other side of the counter. _

_It was like… I don't know, just our eyes met, I looked away and Megan dragged me out. I kept looking back, all through lunch I was distracted. It wasn't a love feeling. But there was something there with that man. _

_In the evening we went to a jazz bar. Which was beautiful, all smoke and saxophone and charm. And there he was, the man from Tiffany and Co., sitting at a table in the back with a friend. He saw us, smiled and I smiled back. Then he stood up and walked over. I nearly panicked, I mean, he was walking over like it was a movie! Meg was suave and I was just gawking like an idiot at himwhen he asked us to join him and his friend for drinks. He was buying and, to be honest, I had no idea who he was at that point so who were we to say no?_

_Megan sat beside his friend, James Abernathy. I remember watching them and honestly seeing sparks flying like the Fourth of July! She completely ignored me, absolutely lost in that guy! He died in the end. A car accident when I was seventeen. It hurt Megan so badly because she loved him quite a bit. They weren't dating or anything, but they used to write letters to each other all the time. _

"_So what do you do, Tess?" Lex asked me and I was trying so hard to be cool and not fall over my words for a change. I told him I was studying, at Harvard. I still get that rush of pride, even now. I was one of their youngest students, I was a Harvard girl, in a jazz bar in New York City with a man who was soon to become one of the most powerful and influential figures in the world. And I didn't even know it. Years later, when I was working for him, we'd stand together at the Luthorcorp windows and look at our Empire. 'We built this world, Tess.' He said once, 'you and I, we built this world.' _

_We got talking more, about history and art. He was fascinating, he'd seen so much of the world, he had no boundaries and borders, yet I… New York City and Louisiana, those were the furthest extremes I'd ever been. But there Lex was, a few years older than me, living the life I wanted, of concerts and beauty and _life_. He asked me about my opinion on _The Raft of Medusa_ and I blanked. I'd never seen it for real, but he had. He smiled, and with that smile I sold my soul, even though I didn't know it had slipped out of my grasp and into his, because he said that 'one day you will go to the Louvre, Tess Mercer. When you do, remember me.' _

_He gave me his business card then. Lex Luthor. I gasped, all that time I had been speaking to a Luthor and hadn't known it. He smiled and his parting words I never forget. _

"_If you ever need a job, if you ever need anything, call me, alright?"_

"_You'd give me a job? That's… Thank you!" my heart was soaring, I had a future and with that security. That was what I wanted so badly, was to know that I would be alright. I would have a future. _

"_Yeah, I could find you something. Might always need a chauffeur." And I remember those words breaking my heart, was that all I would ever be – a chauffeur? That all of my hard work to get a degree, to get out of poverty and believe me, in Louisiana I had nothing. The nicest clothes I ever had were Megan's second hand gear when I got to Harvard. But he saw the look on my face and laughed, "No. I didn't mean that, I was trying to be funny." He smiled and brushed my cheek with the back of his hand, "Just remember, if you ever need me, call me." _

_And then he and James were gone. It was like Cinderella. After glorious hours of dancing with the Prince, he was gone and I had turned back into a pumpkin. _

_It was amazing, that day in New York. I kept the business card always. I researched Luthorcorp and I saw a career and a life and the means to get what I want. I worked twice as hard and I was pulling high distinctions in my studies and then… after you and I fell apart and I had nothing but my shoes and that business card, I called him. I didn't expect him to remember me at all, but he did, he sent a car and it whisked me away, to his mansion in Smallville and a future for me that was suddenly a lot less glamorous and with more shades of grey than I had actually anticipated. _

Tess plucked at the springy clover and then forced a smile. "So there you go. I bet you're rethinking my storytelling skills now." She said nonchalantly.

Oliver caught a strand of her hair and tucked it behind her ear. "Your eyes shine. When you talk about Megan. I know you loved her."

"I did." She admitted sadly.

"No but really." He said, "I hear these stories about Megan and suddenly so much about you makes sense. The absurd skills in breaking and entering?"

She smirked, "Megan taught me to pick locks and twirl chopsticks and walk a tight rope."

He laughed, "I can never tell if your joking or not, Mercy." He smiled and looked into her face, seeing the humanity had returned full force in her features, making her stunningly beautiful again. "I'm sorry about Lex."

Tess drew in a slow breath. "He wasn't what I thought. I'm just… It took me six years to figure it out, to have my eyes opened, but…" she shook her hair back and looked up at the sky. "I saw that painting, The Raft of the Medusa, a few years ago. It was horrible. It was madness and despair. I hated it. I hate him." Her eyes were steely again, "Some days it was fine. He was like a brother almost, full of advice and wit. But other times… He made me hate myself; made me feel weak or scared, told me that no one would ever love me if I didn't toughen up and fight the world."

"Stop, Tess." Oliver said, grabbing her hands, "I'm sorry he hurt you. Lex is a bastard. And he's wrong about you."

She closed her eyes and was quiet for a few long moments. Oliver wondered what thoughts and memories where whirring away in her mind. Eventually she reopened her startlingly green eyes and shook her head.

"Anyway. What I was really going for was to say that I didn't go work for Lex out of spite, Oliver." She said. "You asked me why I would work for your greatest enemy… it was because when I called, he picked me up, he gave me a job and a way to get what I wanted out of life. I took it because I wanted to save myself, to live according to my plans and my rules. Not out of any desire to hurt you back."

"I'm sorry I said that, Mercy. I'm sorry about everything." He pushed himself up with his elbow and gently pressed his mouth against hers. She had her eyes closed when he pulled back. "I know you want time, but remember. I want this for us. I won't let you go."

She opened her eyes, the incredible emerald ripping through him.

"I know." She said, hoarsely. "I just… kiss me. Just kiss me. Please."

He sat up properly, pushing her back down by the shoulders, already kissing her before she had settled on the warm grass. He brushed her lips with his tongue, whispered her name as he dragged his mouth to her ear and down her jaw. Her stomach felt full of butterflies and she kissed him back, letting the feel of his lips on hers overwhelm her.

To Be Continued…

AN: The Raft of the Medusa is an 1800s painting by Theodore Gericault and there really is a restaurant, Serendipity 3 in New York, that sells a $25000 ice cream sundae, the "Frrozen Haute Chocolate". Tragic.


	4. Chapter 4

The Places You Never Knew Existed

What if she'd accepted his offer? What new worlds would they discover, and what dark pasts would they have to confront? Tollie

Post Injustice. I don't own Smallville.

Rated M

Chapter 4

They had returned to his house at mid-afternoon, the air cooling as they walked along the beach, hands bumping slightly until he enclosed her slim paw in his wide hand, keeping her close as her dress billowed in the breeze and gulls cried as they circled at altitude. What's it like to fly? She had questioned, spinning in a circle, arms outstretched. Now Oliver watched her, hunched over her laptop at the breakfast bar, the white light from the screen casting her features into sharp relief.

"Do I need to turn the oven on?" he asked, holding up the pizza box.

Tess didn't look away from her computer or pause her rapid, chittering typing. "Only if you want dinner to be edible, dear."

He tilted his head to the side, watching her type. "What are you doing?"

"Huh?" she looked up, finally ceasing the tickety tap sound, "Keeping our company afloat." She said after a moment's pause.

"You're a workaholic." He said, reaching to turn the oven on like she'd said. "Which is not good. Alcoholism suits you more."

He ducked suddenly as her empty water glass was flung at his head. Tess slammed the lid of the laptop down, looking thunderous.

"What did I say?"

"Do you have any idea how worthless you make me feel?" she asked, standing up and stalking towards him. "You don't get it, do you? You think that's funny! That I should be an alcoholic rather than do something with my career? With _your_ company?"

"I was! Tess!" he jumped up and launched away from her swinging fist. "It was a _joke_."

"Am I laughing?" she snarled, "I work so damn hard! Everything is a party to you and you forget! You killed all of your brain cells and you forgot that this was why we broke up in the first place!"

"Mercy!" his eyes widened as she grabbed one of his mother's glass vases off the top of the upright piano. He stepped forward and wrestled it out of her grip. "Stop it, Tess! I know you're angry but-"

"Angry! Angry! I sacrificed my youth for you, Oliver Queen! When your friend Sam died you changed, you just kept drinking and taking drugs and I dragged you back! I did everything I could when you went off the rails. You don't remember, how many nights I held you while you had the shakes or cocaine nightmares, and you were screaming at me, saying I was the worst thing on the fucking planet for not letting you touch alcohol. Do you know how many times I cried, when I was driving home after visiting you in rehab?"

He got the vase out of her hands and set it back in place, his face burning at the memories that suddenly flooded back with a howl. Tess, panting for breath, looked like she might hit him, her fist raised before she dropped her arms by her side, disgust etched on her white face.

"And then afterwards… you repaid me by sleeping with a waitress!"

"Tess."

"It's not the sex, Oliver. I don't even care about that part! It's the fact that after everything I did for you – you threw me to the gutter in exchange for a whore."

He looked away, so ashamed that he couldn't meet her tear streaked face.

She was stepping past him, their shoulders bumping. "This was a mistake, Oliver. I can't be here, I can't do this."

He watched her tumbled of red hair disappear into her bedroom and swiped his hands over his face, remembering.

"_Mercy, are you insane?" he slurred, stumbling after her and hearing the flush of the toilet. He leans in the doorway, twenty one year old Tess glaring into a corner. "That was two hundred fucking dollars you just flushed!"_

"_Gee, thanks Oliver. Two hundred fucking dollars to the drug industry that made me watch my best friend get shot in the head!" she screamed at him, dropping the now empty zip lock bag into the bowl with disgust. "I can't believe you!" she shoved past him, leaving him reeling and unbalanced. _

"_Ow." He held his head, trying to make the world stop spinning. She was kneeling on the floor, gathering beer bottles into her arms, the glass clinking loudly to his ears. _

"_I can't believe this! This is disgusting! This place looks like a tip! Do you even care about the landfill you drank your way through here?" she was saying, dumping her armload of bottles into the yellow bin bag. One of the cans wasn't quite empty and had dribbled a long streak of sweet beer down her left jean leg. She stood in the centre of the room. "You're hurting me by doing this, Oliver." _

_Hurting her. That was bad. He tried to string her words into reason in his mind. He didn't want reason. With reason came the memories and the guilt. Sam was dead and it was his fault. His fault. _

"_I'm sorry." He said, tottering forwards. He lost his balance and tripped, pain blooming in his knee as he fell on the floor, his hand grabbing for support and catching the end of her long grey cardigan, pulling her down as well. "I don't… don't want to hurt you… Mer…cy…" he whispers, her hair was close to his, the perfume making him dizzy. His uncoordinated hand finds her face, her eyes full of pity and anger and sadness. _

"_I love you too much to see you do this to yourself, Oliver." She says, her voice tinny and far away, the roaring in his ears too much. _

_He kisses her, catching half of her chin instead, sloppy and somewhere in the back of his mind he feels revolted at himself. She pulls away, there's something wet on his face, saliva and her tears, she's crying. _

"_I can't be here! I can't do this, Oliver!" she tears out of his grip and he tries to turn, his mind too foggy. The slam of the apartment door is like a gunshot in the stillness, leaving him spinning. _

_xxx_

_He groans, his head pulsing to the beat of his heart. There's something cool on his forehead and he opens his eyes. Tess was leaning over him, dabbing his face with a wet towel. _

"_Mercy?" he groans, his tongue feeling horrible, he was thirsty. "You came back?" Had he passed out? How had he ended up in his bed? _

_She nodded, "I came back." Her voice was so loud. _

"_Don't shout at me!" he whimpered. _

"_I wasn't – oh." She shook her head. "This has to stop." she was talking at a tolerable volume now. "I know you're upset over losing Sam but seriously, Oliver. This is not what he would want you to do with your life." _

_He rolled away from her, pressing his face into the pillow to draw inky darkness over him. His head felt better. There was the crackle of foil breaking and then a fizzing hiss. He turned again and opened his eyes, Tess holding out a glass of water with two frothing aspirin tablets sending bubbles racing to the surface. _

"_Drink." She said. He obeyed, downing the tangy, bubbly mix and giving her back the glass. _

_He sunk back on the pillows, feeling revolting. "I'm sorry." He said. She shrugged, not looking at him. "Tess, I mean it." He grabbed her thin wrist as she stretched out on her stomach, lying beside him. He played with her long fingers, lacing and unlacing his with hers. _

_She nodded. "I just… I spent ten years watching my father beat up my mother and then fall down drunk. Or he would hit me or throw glass bottles and watch me dodge them…" she trailed off, her eyes blurring over. "It was a really dark time of my life and I try to forget it. I thought you were different, Oliver. I hoped that men, real men, when I got out in the world, would be chivalrous and clean and wouldn't do this to me." _

_His heart was breaking. He hated himself more than he had ever hated anything before, for turning his brilliant, beautiful girl into the shaking, sad figure before him. He reached a hand to her shoulder, feeling her tense, then slowly relax. _

"_I'm so sorry."_

"_I look at you and I know that you're better than this, Oliver. This is not you at all. The Oliver Queen I love is not this person." She pointed at him. He grabbed her hand, kissing her palm over and over, up her inner arm to her neck, pulling her underneath him as he went. _

"_I'm sorry." He was mumbling, between kisses and licks to her clean skin. "I didn't mean to go this far." _

_Her hair fanned out over the pillow and he laced his fingers through a chunk of it, gathering her off the pillow to kiss her deeply. When he pulled back she just looked at him, exasperated. "Go brush your teeth, Oliver." She said, sitting up. _

_He raced to the bathroom, had his teeth and face cleaned in record time. He was about to return to their room when he caught sight of himself in the mirror. He groaned, touching his rough cheek. He looked haggard, his eyes bloodshot, the five o clock shadow looking more like half past midnight. He looked for his razor, feeling revolting, and started to shave. Was this what Tess was seeing when she looked at him?_

_He gasped with sudden pain and pulled his hand away. He'd nicked his jaw with the blade, a bead of crimson blood rising up and breaking, dripping onto the counter. He applied pressure and waited for the blood to stop flowing, the pain cutting through the headache he was still waiting for the aspirin to conquer. He shook his head. "Some hero you are, Oliver." He said to his reflection. "Great job of keeping the promise you made her on the island." He finished shaving and returned to see her sitting on the edge of the bed, the light making her hair radiant. _

"_Clean." He said, giving her a gleaming smile she didn't return. "Tess, please. I can change. Tell me how to change, what to do and I'll do it. I'll do anything for you." He crawled over the bed towards her, leaning his chin on her shoulder and putting his face close to hers. "I promise, I promise." _

"_Alcoholics Anonymous. Rehab. Cold turkey - your choice, pick one." She said, letting him manoeuvre her by the shoulders to lie down. She looked up at him, into his big brown eyes, still angry, hating that even in this state, of just how broken and fucked up the two of them were, he could still make her want him. _

"_I'll do it." He said, "I'll never hurt you again, Mercy, I promise." She doubts his sincerity. She doubts herself. _

_His hands were swift on her shirt buttons, thumbs tracing the edges where her bra and skin met, dropping his head to kiss between her breasts, moving down her taught stomach, tongue swirling over her navel as he shimmied her jeans and knickers down her long legs. Tess grabbed hold of the pendant necklace she was wearing, a tiny silver starfish he had given her for her birthday, as Oliver kissed her inner thighs, making her muscles jump and twitch with unexpected pleasure. _

"_I won't hurt you ever again." He was promising, his rough tongue making her delirious and willing to believe anything he said, the five points of the starfish digging into her palm. _

"_Um… Hi. I'm Oliver."_

"_Hi Oliver." _

"_Tell us, Oliver, why are you here?"_

"_I have a problem. My girlfriend made me come to this. And I'm trying to be a man for her. Because I was always this stupid playboy but then I met her and I vowed to change. And I got back home and… I didn't. And then I found out that my best friend had died. And it was my fault, all my fault. And I started drinking, and taking drugs and I hurt her. I hurt her so badly. But I promised I'd change for her. I'd do anything for her." _

He heard the door slam and looked up, broken out of the darkness, to see Tess walking down the garden path, away from him. He kicked himself into action, running after her. "Mercy!" he called. "Mercy, wait!"

She stopped, the hand around the suitcase handle clenched to an eerie white. She turned, her mouth in a determined pout.

"Tess, I'm sorry! I fucked up!"

"Yes. You did."

"Don't leave."

"I think those are the same words you said to me the last time we stood in this type of situation." She snapped, "and guess what – I still left. So don't stop me now."

He reached out his hand, grabbing the flare of her coat. "I'll make you stay." He said as he stepped closer, pressing their foreheads together, his eyes full of apology. "I need you, Tess. I love you, damn it!"

He kissed her, and she wanted to cry, that no matter how hurt and angry she was, he could always make her lips glitter and her heart pound. The bracelet dazzled with light as she raised her hand to his hair, dragging her manicured nails through the blond, pulling him deeper to her.

"You always think you can kiss me better?" she mumbled when they pulled back gasping.

"I know I can." He nodded and pushed his mouth to hers again, the match of their tongues firmer and increasing in desperation. His hand covered hers on the suitcase and he pulled her back towards the house, prising it out of her grip. She leant her head against his upper arm, closing her eyes. "You were always the better one of us. You were stronger, Tess, and better."

"No." she shook her head.

"Yeah. You pulled me back."

She glared at him, "Is this all I am? Here to pick up the pieces of you and sticky tape you back together." Her eyes flashed.

He tried to tug her back to the house. "Mercy. You are the most incredible woman I have ever known. And if you pick me up, then you know that I'm always here to catch you when you fall. Because that's what you do when you love someone. No matter what." He was talking over her quivering lips, "You catch them… when they fall…"

Their lips met again, white heat rolling through them both, blinding. Her hot tears catch in the seam of their mouths, licked away by him.

To be continued…

AN: The flashback – I was inspired by Echo, where Tess says to Oliver "I've seen you go off the rails before..." This is my interpretation of her statement and the events leading to their break up.


	5. Chapter 5

The Places You Never Knew Existed

What if she'd accepted his offer? What new worlds would they discover, and what dark pasts would they have to confront? Tollie

Post Injustice. I don't own Smallville.

Rated M

Chapter 5

It was hours later, the windows were jet black with night. Oliver turned the sound up on the speaker system as an old jazzy song began to play.

"What song is this?" He turned, Tess was standing in the doorway. She had been in her room all afternoon, unpacking her suitcase again. He smiled.

"_If I Were a Magician_." He said, "It's one of my favourites."

She listened to the lyrics as she stepped closer to her, gently taking her hand and placing it on her shoulder, the other in his hand as he held her around the waist and started a slow dance with her.

_Oh I wish you love me,  
Like you loved me long ago  
it was early in the summer time, you said you loved me so  
The chestnut tree, the summer breeze they whispered soft and low  
and if I could bring you back again I'd never let you go. _

"The first time I heard this song…" Oliver mused, lowering his face so he could breathe deep the scent of her hair, "I was maybe seven? Eight? It was here, at Christmas and I was standing in the doorway, watching my parents dance."

She smiled, "like this?"

"Yeah." He smiled, spinning her out under his arm and back in. They danced across the room, half waltz, half tango, half their own made up steps. The room blurred as they spun too fast, laughing and twirled to a stop. Tess stared hazily at his shirt buttons, taking deep breaths, unable to move her hands, frozen in the heat of his skin and the jarring pound of her heart.

_'Cause I love you  
Yes I love you  
Maybe I could go on living  
If you would love me too_

"Mercy." He whispered, and for once the nickname didn't annoy her. She closed her eyes as he tilted her face up and brushed his dry lips down one side of her face, then the other. She can't breathe and when his lips delicately sweep across hers, she gasps.

"How do you do this to me?" she breathed. "Three days, Oliver… And I've fallen in love with you again."

Her head spins at the way his simple airy kisses can make her crumble. Her heart flips in her chest, feeling odd, like it was too big for her chest.

He smiled, moving his mouth closer to hers. She wants to cry, but has no tears. "I never fell out of love with you in the first place."

He kissed her. Brilliantly, blindingly, wiping her mind clean and leaving her reeling, gripping his shoulders.

"Do you want to have sex?" she blurted out, catching him by surprise.

He met her eyes, "What, now?"

"No, Christmas Day." She retorted dryly, unbuttoning her blouse already. "I mean now, before I come to my senses and realise that I'd have a better time with myself in the bathtub."

Oliver's mouth fell open.

"Really, I'm a lot of fun."

She was wearing a lacy black bra that was striking against her ivory skin, her shirt dropping to the carpet behind her. He reached for her, his hands spanning her waist as he pulled her towards the couch and down to sit in his lap. He smiled at her, that self-assured grin, feeling his pants getting tighter.

"You temptress, you." He whispered, running his fingers up and down her arms and spine. She smiled, tilting her head back so he could press an open mouthed kiss to the hollow of her throat. "I want to claim this neck… these lips, these eyes..." he kissed her way to her forehead, tracing the place where the material of her bra met her skin.

"Claim me?" she whispered silkily, her hands unbuttoning his shirt.

"Mm-hmm." He caught her mouth with his, slow and wet and real. She sighed into his mouth, then gasped as his fingers slipped into her knickers, circling slowly, making her shiver both from the pleasure and the temperature change, his hands were too cool. But his mouth was hot against her skin, licking and biting as she rested her lips in his hair, squeezing her eyes closed as her body reacted to his touch, making her all sparkly. "I claim you, Tess. Every part of you…" she tried to twist away, his fingers slipping faster. "You belong to me."

"Oliver…" she whispered shakily, pulling his face up so he could kiss her and swallow her moans as she came. She leant back in his arms when she could think again, colour high in her cheeks. "Bedroom. Now." She mouthed at him.

Oliver gathered her up in his arms, kissing her collar bone and trying not to crash into the furniture as he navigated the layout of the house half blind. Tess was running her hand over his back and it was slightly distracting.

"Yours or mine?" he panted, holding her in the hallway between their bedrooms.

She pinned him with a look, as if she cared. "Pick one, just… I need you, Oliver." She said, biting the curled tip of his ear.

He couldn't care either, too desperate for her, and stepped forwards, slamming her against the cool wall between the doors of the guest room and master bedroom. She looked down at him, breathless and giddy.

"Put me down, I need… to get my jeans off…" she panted, bracing herself against the wall as Oliver gently lowered one of her insanely long legs to the floor. "Better." She said, going for his belt and buttons first, he pushed her away, pinning her to the wall again with a deep kiss, running his tongue over her teeth and swallowing her whimper. He kicked out of his own clothes, unzipping her jeans and pushing them down her legs.

He stepped back to admire her for a moment. She stood proudly under his gaze, leaning against the wall, her expression at once coy and desperate for his approval. He roamed his eyes over her body, the perfect hourglass, and stopped on the long, pale pink scar that ran from the underside of her left breast to the right side of her navel. He met her eyes, he would ask her about it later. "You're so beautiful." He whispered and loved the way her eyes flooded with relief and adoration, before his mouth crashed against hers, frantic and desperate. He flicked her bra off and thumbed her nipples and dug his fingers into the swell of her breasts, making her back arch as he rained kisses over her collar bone.

"Yes, Oliver…" she sighed, leaning her shoulders on the wall, succeeding at getting his pants undone and her long fingers around him, smiling at his moaned curse, the way he closed his eyes.

"Tess." He called her, ripping off her panties and sinking into her, every nerve ending sparking and jolting as he moved inside her.

He found their rhythm once more, like hearing an old, favourite song after so long; their specific tempo is forever in his mind. He kissed her forehead, creased with the strain of matching him, of trying to hold on to the pleasure and pain that she was swept up in. "Tess. Tess… _Mercy_…" his breathless cries wash over her ear, making her quiver and press harder to him, her breath caught in her throat, coming out a moan and a sigh.

To Tess it feels like the way they were. The way he used to love her, rhythmic and incredible. She's seventeen again, bright and young and in love. Her head over flowing with emotions, the sort of emotions that only he can stir up in her. She can still remember how she felt, her heart beating erratically, her blood full of the desire to run – she could run off a cliff and probably be alright, because she could fly. She opens her eyes and finds him staring at her, his gaze feral and deep brown and drilling into her soul. His hands slide over the backs of her thighs, her skin damp, forcing himself deeper and harder into her. She takes him, she drowns in him as he drowns in her, and kisses, sloppy and delirious and wonderful.

She sparkles, their rhythm is crumbling, the tempo off. She grits her teeth, feeling electricity and the undeniable pressure of her orgasm begin to unfurl somewhere in her navel, running up her spine, making the backs of her eyes blaze with white light.

She hears him cry, his mouth against her throat, her mouth, hips cracking into hers as she gripped him and came. It was unbearable, the rush of heat and light and desperation. Did she scream? She couldn't tell from the rushing sound in her ears, the blood pulsing in her thighs. Oliver looked dazed, slamming a short thrust or two into her, his open mouth on her hot forehead, it was too much, but not enough and they reeled, clinging desperately, gasping and glittering in each other's arms.

To be Continued

AN: The scene in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1, where Harry and Hermione dance around the tent to Nick Cave and the Bad Seed's "O Children" – that is they dance I have in my mind when Tess and Oliver are dancing. Also, the Song is If I Were a Magician by Lou Rawls.


	6. Chapter 6

The Places You Never Knew Existed

What if she'd accepted his offer? What new worlds would they discover, and what dark pasts would they have to confront? Tollie

Post Injustice. I don't own Smallville.

Rated M

Chapter 6

Tess yawned, keeping her eyes closed as she stretched languidly and cat like, feeling her joints and muscles slot back into place. Despite her closed eyelids she could feel the brightness of morning streaming in, the cotton sheets warm and when she stretched her hand out across the bed she was met with the warm, smooth skin and steady heartbeat of Oliver.

"You know," she said, smiling, rolling towards the heat of Oliver's body, "I think that's the first time I've slept without needing pills."

She opened her eyes and found him staring at her, she smiled again. "Good morning."

"Morning." He echoed and kissed her. She grinned and laughed.

"I'm going to brush my teeth, be right back."

They had stumbled to her room, the guest room, late last night, when the pine floor boards started to cause more pain than desired. Tess watched Oliver recline back on the stack of pillows and messily tangled sheets in the ensuite mirror as she cleaned her teeth and tried to shift the mascara halo around her eyes.

"Do you always take sleeping pills?" Oliver asked as she returned, reading the label on the bottle he had found in the side table drawer before putting it away.

Tess shrugged, crawling under the sheets beside him to sprawl over his chest, kissing along his collar bone before flipping over and resting against him, loving the feel of his hands on her rib cage, her stomach, her breasts and thighs. It had been so long, but they still fit together like puzzle pieces. "I haven't slept in years. And while a two am bed time is great if you have tonnes of work to complete, it does make for a zombie impersonation for most of the day." She shook her head, "I started taking tablets and then I just couldn't stop." She flashed him a smile, "except for last night. I may keep you if it means I can get some sleep."

He laughed, swinging her under him in a fluid motion, half of the doona caught between them. They play wrestled amongst the sheets, laughing, their limbs tangling. He was hard against her thigh and she laughed, pulling him closer. They made love lazily across the vast white bed, Tess' eyes closed to the bright sunlight and warmth spreading through her, the feel of him in her arms.

Oliver brushed her nose with his. "I love you." He said, grinning as they came down slowly. She smiled at him, her eyes distant, and rested her hand on the side of his face, idly curling her fingers in his short hair.

He sat back; her lack of response not unmissed, and drew back the sheet. Tess arched under his gaze, like Botticelli's Venus. He traced the scar with his eyes and looked up to her apprehensive but beautiful face.

"What happened?" he asked, running his fingertips along the scar, feeling an almost electrical jolt in pass through them.

Tess sighed and tried to stop his hands, but he pinned hers together against the mattress with his left hand and she rolled her eyes.

"It was a long time ago." She said quietly, dropping her head back to the pillow so she didn't have to look at him. "I was working for Lex in one of his research groups in the Caribbean - we were looking into vaccines, Oliver, not ending humanity. Luthorcorp was not entirely evil; we did have plans to help the world." She admonished at his expression. "Lex came to visit and on the second day the lab exploded. They found out later in the investigation that it was an assassination attempt on him." She bit her lip.

"What happened to you?"

"I was caught in the lab. When the bomb went off, one of the steel cabinets was blown to pieces and the metal caught me. I was lucky that it wasn't too deep." She laughed, "No. It was beyond luck, it was a miracle. It missed my organs by millimetres. It made me realise how fragile life and humans are. A millimetre or two more and I wouldn't be telling you this story."

He gasped audibly, in pain for her.

"Yeah." She said. "It gets a bit hazy but Lex was with me, he was in the room over so he was sheltered from most of the blast. He crawled through rubble and dragged me out. The rescue was taking forever. But Lex… Lex refused to give up on me. I thought I would die, I still have nightmares…" she took a breath, "but Lex wouldn't leave me, he kept saying I wasn't allowed to die." Her laugh was brittle and mirthless. "He yelled for help, and he sat beside me, holding my stomach together with his bare hands." Tears fell from her eyes and rolled into the wisps of red hair at her temples. "No matter what he did, no matter how many lies … Lex saved me, Oliver. I owe him my _life._ I can't ever escape the debt I owe."

She pressed her palm into her eyes, trying to fight the tears. Oliver pulled her hand away and kissed her palm. "Mercy."

"And it taints me!" she exclaimed, "This scar, I see it every day, and I… I used to think it was a reminder to me, of how lucky and blessed I was and how hard I needed to work for Lex. But now… Now it feels like blackmail. Like I'm unworthy. Like it's the way he's tainted me! All the things I've done for him… There's a room in Hell with my name on it."

He kissed her swiftly to cut off her bitter rant, "you're not tainted." He whispered.

"I am."

"Well I love you anyway." He said with determination, covering her body with his and kissing her throat, the skin between her breasts, licking across her rising nipple to press a hot kiss to the top of the scar. He moved across her body, overlapping kisses following the line of the scar. He looked up when he heard her sob. Tess was covering her mouth with her hands, tears flowing into her hair.

"Mercy." He whispered, crawling up her body and looking into her face. She shook her hand at him, her eyes going the most vibrant shade of emerald in the salty sea of tears. "Come here." He gathered her up into his arms, resting against the headboard of the bed and cradling her gently. "Cry it out, Tess." He soothed her hair, wiped away her tears, "He can't hurt you anymore." He told her. "I won't let him hurt you anymore."

"It's what I've done, Oliver." She rasped, "It's that no matter how far I run, I have to live with myself. And all… the things I've done… for him… and for myself and because I just wanted to save the world… and… there's so much blood on my hands, Oliver." she swallowed, her throat constricted, and tried to compose herself, wiping her tears away angrily, "I'm like Lady fucking Macbeth!" she raised her hands , white and shaking. "I can see nothing but blood. Out, out, _damn_ spot."

Oliver snatched her right hand out of the air and brought it his mouth, licking from wrist to the shell pink nail on her index finger. "Tess… Mercy..." He whispered, kissing along her arm, "you can't think like this. I don't see any blood." He pressed his lips to hers, tenderly at first, then hungrily, down her neck, her collar bone. "I love you, believe me, I love you."

To be continued…


	7. Chapter 7

The Places You Never Knew Existed

What if she'd accepted his offer? What new worlds would they discover, and what dark pasts would they have to confront? Tollie

Post Injustice. I don't own Smallville.

Rated M

Chapter 7

"You have Guitar Hero?" Tess grinned, turning to Oliver. They had eaten breakfast, and decided to spend the day inside, since the forecast was for a storm and already the sky was overcast with dark clouds rolling over the water.

"Yeah, you want to play?" Oliver looked at her and frowned, "Do you even know how to play, Tess?" Somehow he couldn't picture her having the time or interest.

"I'll whip your ass, pretty boy!" she smirked, her eyes determined. Oliver slapped her hip and wrestled her into his arms, laughing and shrieking as she squirmed and resisted playfully.

"Sounds kinky, Mercy." He laughed, pulling her up for a kiss. She hummed in her throat, tugged at his hair and smiled breathlessly when he released her.

"Come on, let's play!" she jumped over to grab the two guitars and give him his.

True to her word, Tess unleashed her inner Jimi Hendrix and slaughtered him, round after round. "_I don't want to see myself descend, into the Shadowside again. If you're letting go of me again, in the Shadowside I'll end!"_ Tess sang at the top of her lungs, never missing a note.

"How are you so good at this?" Oliver yelled, missing several blue notes and trying to up his game, getting frustrated.

She grinned, "What else should I buy when I'm trying to irresponsibly spend Lex's money? After giving you Luthorcorp, the charities and the Louboutins I had to start getting creative!" She slammed a few more notes in and won the round. She bowed to an imaginary audience.

"Good game, Mercy!" He enthused, putting down his guitar and looking at her. He smiled.

"What?" she asked her lips quirking as well. "What are you thinking?"

"I was wondering what you were thinking."

"Nothing."

He gave her a look, "you're always thinking something, Mercy."

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "Ok, I was thinking, but it wasn't anything I felt like sharing."

"Too dirty?"

She grabbed the nearest pillow and hit him across the head and chest with, both laughing as he tried to fight her off until he wrenched the pillow out of her grip, slapped her back with it and then pulled her into his arms, pressing his forehead to hers.

"I like your smile." He whispered. He was sad to see her smile fade; her eyes grow serious as she looked deeply into him. He felt like he was being x-rayed, examined under her unwavering green gaze. "What?"

"What do you want us to be?" she asked. "Are we… are we going somewhere with this, Oliver? Because I don't want to get too tangled up."

Sometimes, she really pissed him off.

"Too tangled up?" he echoed, stepping back. "Really? Because you mumbling about _three days and I've fallen in love with you _is what – meaningless? Do you ever hear yourself talk, Mercy?"

She winced. "That's not what I meant!"

"Then please, enlighten me."

She raked her fingers through her hair, sweeping it back off her face and drawing a breath. "Ok, um. If this is going somewhere, like we go back to Metropolis and… I don't know… we get serious again… we need to think about that. About the sort of relationship we're going to be."

"Should I sit down for this discussion or…?" he gestured to the lounge. Tess sighed and sat down with him.

"What I'm trying to say - and you know I'm not a good talker so I'm just going to say it." She nodded to herself, "I made a promise to myself that I would never fall in love again, I would never get hurt but whenever you walk into my life that always seems to go straight out the window." She twisted her hands as she spoke. "And now I love you and I will follow you to the ends of the Earth, Oliver, but you have to know that I'm not that same little girl from the island. I'm not going to be hurt, by anyone. So if you see other women then I'm ok with that. Just don't ever let me know, and for God's sake definitely don't give me some disease!"

Oliver gaped at her and tried to disagree but she had launched off the couch and was pacing back and forwards on the rug.

"We're both different Oliver, we can't pretend otherwise. We're adults now, so if this is going to work than we can't pretend to be anyone but who we are. So if you see women or I go for share market domination then we're just going to accept that and love each other and be happy, yeah? We don't have to move in or anything like that. Just… No rules, no expectations, no hurt."

Their eyes met, brown into green. Defiant and candid, fighting but beautiful. Oliver pushed off the couch and made the two steps towards her, slamming her into a deep kiss. "Love is a hurting thing, Mercy." He whispered when they pulled back gasping.

She rolled her eyes, "That's a song title."

"Best I could get on such short notice." He replied, kissing her again. "Mercy, I love you and I understand where you're coming from but that is not the sort of relationship I want. One where we're just pretending to be cool about everything and really we'll just be bottling up all of that resentment and then one day we'll snap and you'll throw stuff like you always do." He caught her hands as a safety precaution. "I don't… I'm not that boy anymore, Mercy, and I'm not tarnishing what we have by turning it into an open relationship."

"I don't want to be hurt. I can't… I can't take much more pain." She whispered.

"I know." He said, "And I won't hurt you."

She pushed her hair off her face, "Maybe… maybe this holiday was what we needed. A chance to get each other out of our systems and be able to function as normal adults instead of being so dependent on this crazy, toxic thing between us."

She really, _really_ pissed him off sometimes.

He glared at her, angry now, "Dammit Mercy!" he shouted, "What is wrong with you? You either want this or you don't, you either love me or you don't! But commit to something and stop making me feel like this. I am insane for you, you understand!"

If only it was simple. If only their glass universe wasn't glittering in a million tiny pieces. She feels broken; Oliver's lips forcing kisses on her mouth, his hands on her waist, pulling her closer. She cannot resist, she realises as she stands up on her toes that she is completely powerless to resist him. And for once that feeling doesn't hurt her. She kisses him, slides her tongue against his and feels that cloud of static buzz somewhere in the back of her mind. Tess pushed herself closer, her hands going to his hair and his strong shoulders.

It's too much, she can't breathe, rational thought is fading. Outside lightening forked across the sky, illuminating him brightly in the sudden white.

She pulled away, taking an awfully deep breath to rid her face of the numbness and slowly raised her gaze up to his eyes, feeling that even if she wanted to hide the hurricane of emotions inside her, she wouldn't be able to.

He gently tucked her hair behind her ear with his fingers, looping the red strands in his hand and cradling her head. Tess had never noticed just how large his hands were, and loved the security she felt in them. "Don't run away just because you're scared of what might happen." He whispered, "I love you and you love me! So stop being a prat and stay!"

"You think it's that easy?" She asked with a breath of laughter.

He cut her off before she could say anything more, "You're the most beautiful woman I know, Hell the most beautiful woman on the planet, but you're spiky, Tess! I know why, ok, you're right to be." He grabbed her hand, "but you have to know, I'm not like the other men in your life. You don't have to push me away because I'm not going to hurt you or lie to you or leave you. I love you. I_ love_ you."

In the flare of lightning their eyes locked. Tess' lips twitched into a sad but brilliant smile, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.

"Oliver!" she said against his neck, resting her lips on his warm skin. She closed her eyes, feeling his arms go around her waist, his hand smoothing her hair and his lips on the side of her face.

"I'm here, Mercy. I'm here."

"Can you love someone as fucked up as me?" she questioned, her voice soft.

"Can you love someone as fucked up as _me_?" He asked of her, half laughing. Tess nodded, tipping her face up to look at him. He can see her, in that moment, seventeen again. But already that ghost girl was slipping away, out the door, her elegant fingers holding the hand of his equally younger self. Then the lightning swirled again and she was Tess, he was Oliver, older, wiser and infinitely more beautiful and real than the little lost shadows, slipping away.

"I don't want any of it. I don't want Luthorcorp or Metropolis. I don't want Lex's house or anything." She said, "I just want you. We should go somewhere. Anywhere. To all the places we never knew existed." She was talking at a hundred miles, her hands gripping his collar as she stood on her toes to kiss his mouth. "I want that. I want _you_, Oliver."

He grabbed her around the waist and spun her in a circle, lifting her feet off the ground and sending her hair spinning out in a halo. "I love you, I love you, I love you!" he said against her lips, kissing every centimetre of her face.

He set her back on her feet and tilted her face up with his hands, catching her lips in a searing kiss. He ran his tongue over hers, pulling her body closer to his as he plundered her mouth. Everything was cloud of static in the front of her brain, breathless and incredible.

"We'll be ok, this time, won't we?" she said when he finally put her down, still gasping for breath. It had been a long time, but her heart felt free. She was free of Lex and that old life, she wasn't being held down anymore.

"Course we will, Mercy, of course we will." He said.

Oliver stepped backed slowly, keeping their hand linked as he pulled her in the direction of the couch. She smiled as she was lowered to his warm chest, her hands already going to his shirt buttons. They shared a smile, revelling in the warmth of their arms, his kiss, her freedom. They'd be alright this time.

Fin

AN: The song Shadowside is by A-Ha, but I don't think it's actually on any Guitar Hero game. Love is a Hurting Thing, is a song by Lou Rawls.


End file.
